So I'm a Spider So What? Volume 4

It’s a breath attack!

The breath surges through the water toward the water dragon.

Defending itself, the water dragon counters with a breath of its own.

The light dragon’s and the water dragon’s attacks collide, sending shock
waves out through the water.

Luckily enough, the waves push Fei and me right into the entrance to the
labyrinth.

As we’re sent spinning through the narrow tunnel, our bodies tumble off the
walls repeatedly.

Not wanting to get separated, I pull Fei toward me and hang on tight.

It’s almost like we’re hurtling through a waterslide with no safety measures
whatsoever.

For a second, it feels like we’re floating.

Finally, we crash to the ground magnificently.

In my attempt to shield Fei from the impact, I end up getting slammed that
much harder.

Somehow, we’ve made it to the cave at the end of the tunnel.

Opening my eyes, I see Basgath with a torch in hand.

His body is pretty scratched up.

Everyone else has a considerable amount of scrapes, too.

We were basically flushed at high speed through a fairly long tunnel, so I
guess we’re lucky the damage wasn’t worse.

It’s certainly better than it would’ve been if we’d ended up fighting that water
dragon.

However, although the wounds are shallow, our bathing suits have all been
torn in some places.

Ms. Oka and her childlike body are fine, but Katia and Anna have been left in a
pretty suggestive state.

Also, Katia is glowering at me as she covers up her ripped swimsuit with her
hands.



“Urk, sorry.”

“I won’t dare to ask what that apology is for, but perhaps you could let go
now?”

At Katia’s cold words, I realize I’ve been holding on to Fei this whole time.

Suddenly deeply aware of her soft skin pressed against my body, I hastily pull
away.

“S-s-s-sorry!”

“Hmm. Well, you saved me, so I guess we’ll call it even.”

I bow my head in gratitude to Fei’s generous decree.

“Argh! With a start like this, I dread to think how the rest of the journey’s
going to go!”

Privately, I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Basgath.

At any rate, since we’re all scratched up, we’d better treat our wounds.

We have to change into our regular clothes, too, but it’d be better to take
care of our injuries first, right?

Although the women probably don’t want to remain in this state any longer
than they have to.

“Well, at least we managed to enter safely, more or less. Welcome to our hell
on earth, the Great Elroe Labyrinth.”

Groaning at Basgath’s dramatic line, I set about preparing some healing
magic.

MOTHER ATTACK

Having decided at random to head toward the mountains, I enjoy my first
stroll since being reincarnated.

In my previous life, I was an honorary shut-in who left the house only to go to
school (I don’t really remember going anywhere else, anyway). But this time
around, I’m a healthy young spider who enjoys the outdoors!

Since I never left the Great Elroe Labyrinth until now, I guess technically I’ve
been a shut-in this whole time, but that’s ancient history now!

Walking is super-fun!
I guess humans really do need sunlight to live.
Can’t produce vitamin D without soaking up some sun!
Not that it matters to me, since I’m a spider now!
Still, just enjoying a little sunshine is raising my energy levels waaay up.
Really makes you realize how great the sun is.
Although I guess I don’t actually know if this planet calls its star the sun or
what have you.
As a side note, there’s only one sun here, too.
I don’t know if there’s a moon yet.
I’ll probably find out when night falls, but I can’t help but wonder if there’ll be
two moons, like an honest-to-goodness sci-fi/fantasy world.
Now, that I’d like to see.
The stars are probably different from Earth’s, so I’m a little curious about that,

too.
Man, I’m looking forward to nighttime.

In my old life, when all I did was play games, I could never have imagined
being this interested in nature.

Speaking of nature, Appraisal works really well on the flowers around here.
I was kind of surprised that it showed the names of every single plant.
If my Appraisal level was still low, it’d probably just label the whole mess
“grass.”

Anyway, since I spent a long time curiously Appraising everything, I haven’t
gotten as far as I expected.

But I guess it’s not like I’m in any rush.
Enjoying my leisurely walk, I eventually pass through the plains and reach the
forest.
The second I get close, I notice that all of the living creatures in the forest
start fleeing immediately.

Yeah, yeah.
Almost forgot—I’m a dangerous monster who crawled out of the labyrinth
and all that.
I guess it makes sense that normal animals would want to run away from me.
Kinda feels like I’ve been brought back down to earth for a second.

Okay, that takes the wind out of my sails a little.
Oh well. I shake it off and start exploring the forest.
The animals may have run away, but the plants are obviously still here.
Discovering some kind of fruit growing in the forest, I Appraise it, then try a
bite.

Mm!
So sweet! So tasty!

Thanks, Mother Nature!
Oh man, I’m sooo happy.
Maybe I can just live in the forest, eating fruit, until I evolve into an arachne.
Hmm?
Did the ground shake a little just now?
Like a magnitude-3-ish earthquake?
Seems like there are earthquakes in this world, too.
I never felt any shaking while I was in the Great Elroe Labyrinth, so I had no
idea.
Maybe it doesn’t happen as often here as it does in Japan?
I guess Japan probably has shakes a little too often.
My thoughts are interrupted by Danger Perception going off alarmingly.
My whole body stiffens, warning me that I’m in danger.
I haven’t felt fear like this in a long while.
This particular sensation seems familiar.
It’s the same fear I felt when I was first born.
Huh? You’re kidding me, right?
I mean, that thing could never come out of the labyrinth.
But the alarm bells in my head are growing louder by the second.
My senses are screaming that I can’t stay here.
Dash!
I run away at full speed, trying to put as much distance between the source of
danger and myself as I can.
Immediately, I sense a huge amount of power converging on me from far
behind.
This doesn’t look good.

I change my course, veering to the side.
Using my Skanda skill, which I’ve had since birth, I continue gaining speed,
running away with all my might.
Seconds later, the forest I was just standing in…is gone.
At the edge of my vision, I see a torrent of black energy.
It resembles Araba’s breath attack but with a different attribute and far more
powerful.
I’m guessing that was the Dark attribute.
And it was even stronger than Araba’s full-powered breath attack.
Not to mention, this was launched from miles away. Yet it managed to
destroy a section of a forest, then still had energy to spare to shave off a
fragment of the distant mountain I was heading toward.
Araba’s breath was powerful enough to destroy my home, sure.
But this isn’t even on the same level.
I’ve seen this insane amount of power only once before.
In the Middle Stratum, when I saw a swarm of wyrms led by the fire dragon
Rend all but wiped out by a single attack.
I look back to see what created this attack.
It’s the same giant beast I expected to see.
This is my third time seeing it with my own eyes.
The first time was when I was born.
The second time was when I saw that fire dragon get beaten down.
And the third time is now. My mother, the queen taratect, is aiming her
fearsome power right at me.
Run!
Run!
Run awaaay!

I don’t know how she got out of the labyrinth or how she knew where I was,
but there’s no time to worry about that right now! Just gotta escape!

The instant I saw Mother in the flesh, I became acutely aware that I didn’t
stand a chance.

I didn’t think it would be possible at this distance, but I manage to Appraise
her somehow. Maybe it’s because my Parallel Minds are still connected to her.

<Queen taratect LV 89
(Weakened)
HP: 20,557/20,557 (MAX MP: 18,301/18,301
Status: 24,557) (green) +0 (details) (MAX 22,301) (blue) +0
(details)
SP: 19,097/19,097 (MAX
23,097) (yellow) (details) : 19,991/19,991
(MAX 23,991)
Average Offensive Ability:
20,439 (MAX 24,439) (details) (red) +0 (details)
Average Magical Ability: 17,977
(MAX 21,977) (details) Average Average Defensive
Speed Ability: 20,400 (MAX Ability: 20,286 (MAX
24,400) (details) 24,286) (details)
Average Resistance
Ability: 17,946 (MAX
21,946) (details)

Skills:

[HP Ultra-Fast [MP Rapid Recovery LV [MP Lessened [Magic Divinity LV
Recovery LV 4]
10] Consumption LV 10] 3]

[Magic Power [Magic Power Super- [SP Rapid Recovery [SP Minimized
LV 10] Consumption LV
Conferment LV 5] Attack LV 1] 10]

[Destruction Super- [Impact Super- [Cutting Super- [Piercing Super-
Enhancement LV 5] Enhancement LV 6]
Enhancement LV 3] Enhancement LV

5]

[Shock Super- [Status Condition Super- [Battle Divinity LV 9] [Energy

Enhancement LV 5] Enhancement LV 10] Conferment LV

10]

[Ability Conferment [Energy Super-Attack LV [Divine Dragon Power [Dragon Barrier LV

LV 6] 3] LV 6] 2]

[Deadly Poison [Enhanced Paralysis [Heretic Attack LV 7] [Poison Synthesis
Attack LV 10] Attack LV 10] LV 10]

[Medicine Synthesis [Thread Genius LV 10] [Divine Thread [Thread Control LV
10]
LV 10] Weaving]

[Psychokinesis LV 3] [Throw LV 10] [Expel LV 10] [Dimensional
Maneuvering LV
10]

[Kin Control LV 10] [Egg-Laying LV 10] [Concentration LV 10] [Thought
Acceleration LV 9]

[Future Sight LV 3] [Parallel Minds LV 9] [High-Speed [Hit LV 10]

Processing LV 10]

[Evasion LV 10] [Probability Super- [Stealth LV 10] [Concealment LV 2]
Correction LV 10]

[Silence LV 10] [Odorless LV 1] [Emperor] [Heretic Magic LV
10]

[Shadow Magic LV [Dark Magic LV 10] [Black Magic LV 4] [Poison Magic LV
10] 10]

[Healing Magic LV [Demon Lord LV 5] [Satiation LV 10] [Destruction Super-
10] Resistance LV 4]

[Impact Nullification] [Cutting Super- [Piercing Super- [Shock Super-
Resistance LV 4] Resistance LV 4] Resistance LV 4]

[Flame Resistance LV [Flood Resistance LV 1] [Gale Resistance LV [Terrain Resistance
2] 1] LV 2]

[Bolt Resistance LV [Holy Light Resistance [Earth Resistance LV [Heavy Super-
1] LV 9] 8] Resistance LV 1]

[Status Condition [Acid Super-Resistance [Rot Resistance LV 8] [Faint Resistance

Resistance] LV 3] LV 5]

[Fear Resistance LV [Heresy Resistance LV 9] [Pain Nullification] [Suffering
8] Nullification]

[Night Vision LV 10] [Long-Distance Vision LV [Five Senses Super- [Perception
1] Enhancement LV 10] Expansion LV 8]

[Divinity Expansion [Ultimate Life LV 10] [Ultimate Magic LV [Ultimate
LV 2] 10] Movement LV 10]

[Fortune LV 10] [Fortitude LV 10] [Stronghold LV 10] [Deva LV 10]

[Sanctum LV 10] [Skanda LV 10] [Taboo LV 10]

Skill Points: 164,500
Titles:

[Kin Eater] [Foul Feeder] [Poison Technique [Monster Slayer]
User]
[Thread User] [Fearbringer]
[Merciless] [Assassin] [Human Slayer] [Dragon Slayer]
[Champion] [Human
[Monster Slaughterer] [Wyrm Slayer] Slaughterer]

[Monster Calamity] [Lord] >

[Wyrm Slaughterer] [Human Calamity]

What kind of beast is this?
Her stats are all higher than 20,000!
Mathematically, that means she’s around five times stronger than Araba.
How am I supposed to win?
Seriously, those stats are even worse than I imagined.
I was prepared for them to be more than 10,000, sure, but double that?

I guess the one silver lining is that her stats have been reduced for some
reason.

They’ve all lost about 4,000 points each.

Maybe that’s thanks to the hard work of my Parallel Minds?
That would mean that I’m the one who reduced her stats this much.
Man, am I amazing or what?
Unfortunately, that still doesn’t mean I stand a chance of winning.

Even when she’s weakened, her lowest stat still far exceeds my highest.
I have to run away.
Jumping into a fight I can’t win is tantamount to suicide.
And I definitely don’t want to die like that.

If I’m completely backed into a corner, then sure, I’ll go down fighting my
hardest, but right now I still have a chance of surviving if I run away.

There’s still a lot of distance between Mother and me.
Because her speed is higher than mine, she would catch me eventually in a
chase, but it’d still take her a while to close the gap.
Also, that powerful breath did manage to reach my position in spite of the
huge distance between us, but I’m sure I’ll be able to tell when she’s preparing
a huge attack like that.

It shouldn’t be impossible for me to escape the blast radius in time, either, I
think.

Anyway, while I’m running away from Mother, I’d better start putting
together a Long-Distance Teleport spell in a hurry.

Unlike Short-Range Teleport, Long-Distance takes time to prepare.
Even with my Height of Occultism skill, I still need a few minutes.

And since I have to concentrate on constructing such a complicated rune for
it, I can’t use any other magic at the same time.

Generally speaking, it isn’t something I can use during battle.

But it’s the perfect spell for escaping.
I can teleport to anywhere that I’ve been before, no matter how far away.
As long as I can complete the spell, my retreat back into the Great Elroe
Labyrinth won’t take even a second.
Right now, the pleasant scenery of the outdoors seems far more dangerous.
Better to hide in the complicated labyrinth, safe in a narrow passage that
Mother can’t easily enter.
I just have to last a few minutes until the Teleport spell is ready.
But now I sense Mother chasing behind me at a frightening speed.
So damn fast!
How can such an enormous body be this speedy?!
I glance backward for a moment.
Wow. She’s basically causing natural disasters just by moving.
Wherever her feet land, huge chunks of earth go flying. The areas she’s
passed through are completely wrecked, like a huge tornado just hit.
The wind generated by her speed alone is enough to mow down everything in
her path.
You know those monster movies where the monster stomps around,
destroying streets and buildings? Yeah, this is worse.
Mother is basically the incarnation of destruction right now.
Just running by is enough to wreak havoc on the world around her?
This is no joke!
If she so much as steps on me, my little body is gonna get decimated!
But now is no time to be frozen in fear.
That’s ’cause, like, judging by Mother’s mouth, it kinda seems like she’s
charging up another breath attack.
While moving toward me at full speed.

Um, wait a second.
Can you really shoot that breath while moving?
Don’t you normally have to stop to charge a big attack like that, never mind
fire it?
This doesn’t seem fair!
Panicking, I change direction.
I’m trying to get out of the straight line where I assume the breath is going to
hit.
But Future Sight kicks in, showing me a horrifying scene.
Oh crap!
I switch gears again, abandoning my sideways movement to take to the sky
with Dimensional Maneuvering.
Immediately, Mother jumps up high.
She fires her breath through the air I just leaped from.
Then sweeps horizontally.
The breath attack devastates a wide swath of land in seconds.
Even in the air, I still get slammed by the shock waves, sending me into a
tailspin.
Still, at least the damage is minor.
If I’d stayed on the ground, I would’ve taken a direct hit from that breath.
Compared to that, I prefer losing about 30 percent of my HP any day!
If the shock waves alone cause that much damage, a direct hit would’ve
freaking vaporized me!
I manage to gain control in the air and keep fleeing.
I don’t want to waste precious seconds getting back down to the ground.
In fact, the ground’s been blown to bits anyway, meaning I couldn’t even if I
wanted to.

If this is what it’s like when she’s weakened, I would hate to see Mother’s full-
power breath when she’s in her normal state.

I glance back at Mother.

She lands on the ruined ground like it’s no big deal, raising an enormous cloud
of dust.

I’m pretty sure I saw the earth literally shake when she hit.
Then, ignoring the impact of the landing, she goes right back to running
toward me.
A part of me can’t help thinking that she looks pretty badass, charging toward
me with a cloud of dust rising in her wake.

It really is like a scene out of a movie.
Just much, much scarier.
Jumping with that giant body, landing, and breaking into a run again without a
second thought? How aggressive can you be?
This ain’t some CG animation. It’s reality, and it’s coming for me.

Why do I have to deal with a situation that would make a Hollywood director
wet themselves?!

The distance between us is already around half of where it started a minute
ago.

In other words, she’ll catch up to me in another half a minute.
The Teleport should be ready just seconds before that.

As long as I don’t screw this up, I’m gonna make it!
But seriously, I better not screw this up.
Mother starts activating magic spells as she runs.
I’m working on a spell while I run, too, so I guess I can’t complain this time.

I can’t, but I want to!
Judging by the looks of it, Mother is using the Dark Magic spell Dark Bullet.

It’s a very simple spell, the weakest level of Dark Magic.
That’s all well and good, but the amount of shots and their range are
definitely not normal.
The greater the range of the magic, the weaker it becomes.
If Mother wants to damage me from several miles away, she’d have to use a
huge amount of MP.
And have the magical prowess to perform it, too.
It’s no surprise that Mother can do something like that, of course.
But I still think it’s unfair that she can fire so many that it’s like a rain of
bullets!
I dodge and weave around the fusillade as I push forward.
As a result, my speed slows down, and Mother is catching up to me that much
faster.
I did consider simply tanking the hits as I run.
My magic defense is pretty high, and I’ve got Dragon Power to dispel magic,
too.
I might not even take damage at all if I get hit.
However, the problem isn’t the damage itself but the time I’d lose.
When an attack hits you, besides the damage, it has a certain impact.
What if that slowed me down?
Or worse yet, if it caused me to lose my balance and fall, it’d all be over in an
instant.
Dodging is the best option to keep unknown variables out of the equation.
I thought that was the right decision.
However, it was based on incorrect assumptions.
See, I thought this magic barrage was meant to slow me down.
But I was wrong.

It was meant as a distraction.
By the time I notice, it’s too late.
A third breath attack has been charging up in Mother’s mouth.
I have no time to take evasive action before the breath shoots forth.
My body is about to be swallowed up by an oncoming wave of destruction.
Just before it hits, my teleport magic is complete.
I activate it immediately and escape into the Great Elroe Labyrinth by a
hairbreadth.
I made it.
If the teleportation had been even one second later, I would’ve died.
As it is, about a quarter of my body was annihilated.
Two of my hind legs are gone, and even a piece of my abdomen.
The fact that I’m still alive must be thanks to either my nature as a spider or
the grace of my skills and stats.
At any rate, I can’t just leave things like this.
I have to use Healing Magic to fix myself up right away.
As soon as that thought flashes through my mind, I check my surroundings
again.
This area is a sort of midpoint between the Middle and Upper Stratums.
I teleported here, since I’d built a home here once.
Now, it’s where a massive army of spiders has been lying in wait for me.

NAVIGATING THE GREAT ELROE LABYRINTH

I don’t know where I am.
A vast, empty space.
And a lone woman is there with me.
Her body is disappearing, like it’s melting into the space, leaving only part of
her upper body behind.
It’s heartrending to witness.
Then, mechanical words spill from her mouth.
“Proficiency has reached the required level.”
“Experience has reached the required level.”
“Proficiency has reached the required level.”
………
“It hurts.”
My eyes flash open, and I jerk upright.
Quickly, I check my surroundings.
A lamp emits a faint light.
The walls it illuminates are natural rock, and the ground, too, is hard enough
that I can feel it through my sleeping bag.
The Great Elroe Labyrinth, Upper Stratum.
Now I remember where I am and why.
That’s right. We came to this labyrinth to cross between the continents.

We’ve been in here for two days now.

It’s currently night. We’re sleeping while keeping watch in shifts.

Aside from the water dragon attack right at the start, our trip through the
labyrinth has been going fairly well with Basgath as our guide.

The monsters we’ve encountered thus far haven’t been a problem.

Many of the monsters that live in the Upper Stratum of the Great Elroe
Labyrinth are poisonous, which would normally make things harder, but most of
the party can cure poison with Healing Magic.

On top of that, since our stats are so high, the monsters rarely even get in a
hit on us before we crush them.

Hyrince, our tank, has been protecting us by manipulating the monsters into
focusing their attacks on him.

Thanks in large part to him, we’ve been able to push forward without any
difficult battles.

We were worried about labyrinth sickness, too, but so far no one seems to be
afflicted by it.

In the labyrinth, there’s no sunlight, no sense of the passage of time, and you
never know when a monster will attack you.

Dealing with this for days on end causes many people’s health to falter due to
the physical and mental distress.

This is collectively referred to as labyrinth sickness.

To be honest, I was pretty frazzled myself during my first day in the labyrinth.

It’s not particularly hot or cold, but it’s cramped, and the air feels heavy.

The darkness is so absolute that without the light of Basgath’s torch, we
wouldn’t even be able to see directly in front of us.

Monsters can suddenly attack from the shadows.

In such a constantly tense environment, fatigue builds a lot faster than it
would on a normal day’s worth of travel.

You can’t blame me for getting a little glum knowing that we’ll have to keep
this up for days.

We have to reach the elf village before Hugo does.
That makes me want to get out of the labyrinth as quickly as possible, but
rushing like that can be fatal in here.
People who can’t remain calm and proceed at a reasonable pace inevitably
fall victim to labyrinth sickness in no time flat.
Basgath explained all this to us during our first day.
Fortunately, if we can make it through the labyrinth within our estimated
time, we should have no trouble beating Hugo to the elf village.
We can’t get impatient.
I wipe the dried sweat from my brow.
What was up with that dream I just had?
“Are you all right?”
Ms. Oka peers over at me.
Our night watch shifts are in groups of two.
The current guards are Ms. Oka and Basgath.
Apparently, she called out to me because I was groaning as I woke up.
“I’m fine. I just had a bit of a bad dream.”
I hide my worries with a smile.
In the end, it was only a dream, after all.
“That there is an ill omen.”
My words were intended to dodge the subject, but Basgath latches onto
them.
“An omen?”
“Yeh got that right. Have yeh heard of the Nightmare of the Labyrinth?”
“No, I don’t think so.”

Basgath usually shouts, but since the rest of our group is sleeping, he’s
speaking in a hushed tone.

Naturally, his tone lends itself to creating an ominous atmosphere, as if he’s
telling a ghost story.

“I have,” Ms. Oka offers. “It refers to a legendary-class monster that suddenly
appeared in the labyrinth some ten years ago, correct?”

“I’m surprised yeh know that. I figured a little girl yer age wouldn’t be familiar
with such an old story.”

“Yes, I just happened to hear about it some time ago.”

A legendary-class monster.

That refers to a monster deemed higher than danger level S, said to be
impossible for any human to defeat.

“The Nightmare is a living calamity of the Great Elroe Labyrinth, on par with
the queen herself. If yeh had a bad dream, that might mean that the Nightmare
is going to show up…”

“But isn’t it already dead?” Ms. Oka asked.

“That’s what they say.”

“You don’t believe it?”

“Aye. They say it was killed like any ordinary monster, but I don’t buy it. A
beast like that wouldn’t go down easily. If yeh ask me, it’s still alive somewhere,
watching and waiting for its next prey.”

“That almost makes it sound as if you’ve seen it for yourself.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Truth be told, I was the one who first discovered the
Nightmare.”

For some reason, Basgath puffs up his chest.

I guess that is impressive, probably?

“See, back then there was a monster outbreak incident, so a group of knights
was sent in to investigate the cause and thin out the monsters. I was their
guide. Turns out, the reason for the outbreak was that the Nightmare had

driven all the monsters in its vicinity out of their homes. But we didn’t know
that, which explains why we walked right into the Nightmare’s lair. I’ll never
forget that moment. The second our eyes met, I thought I was a goner.”

Basgath shudders at the memory.

“Sounds like you’re lucky that you made it out alive.”

“Yeah, about that. The Nightmare has some unusual habits, see. If yeh don’t
attack it, it’ll let yeh go. In fact, it might even heal yer wounds.”

“What?”

“Unbelievable, right? I hear the party that was sent in after us to kill it got
wiped out in a flash. Maybe they pissed it off or something. And yet, other
times it’s been known to help people, as if on a whim. It’s a mysterious,
unpredictable monster, that.”

What kind of inconsistent monster is that?

Is it even a monster at all?

“But one thing’s for sure: The Nightmare is outrageously strong. Yeh seem
pretty strong from what I’ve seen, boy, but there’ll always be someone stronger
than you. In this world, there are some fights you just can’t win. Remember
that.”

Those words bring Sophia and Ronandt to mind.

I couldn’t so much as lay a finger on either of them.

“Yes, I know. There’s always someone stronger.”

I clench my fists tight.

If we keep facing off with Hugo, I might have to fight those two again.

If I do, will I be able to win?

No, I can’t think like that. I have to win.

To protect all of humanity and to keep the world from falling into chaos.

I have to stop Hugo, which means I have to beat those two.

“Sounds like yeh got some foes of yer own. But don’t get too fired up about it,

hear? Everyone has things they can do and things they can’t. Trying to do the
impossible anyway won’t change a thing. Just stick to what yeh can do.”

Basgath tries to reassure me, though I can’t say I agree.

“But there are some things I have to do.”
If you run away from things you can’t do, you’ll never be able to do them.
Sure, I’ll acknowledge it.
As I am right now, I probably can’t beat Sophia or Ronandt.

But I’m going to beat them.
I’ll find a way to win.
Besides, it’s not like I have to do it all on my own.
I have friends I can depend on.

“That so? Well, do yer best, as long as it don’t kill you.”
“I will.”
“All right, then. Lots of people die because they tried to do something they
couldn’t. It don’t take much to kill a person, y’know. If yeh die because yeh bit
off more than yeh could chew, don’t that mean yeh should’ve sized things up
better beforehand?”
Basgath’s unexpectedly serious advice surprises me. Then I realize something.

He’s probably seen this happen to people many times before.
“Fighting to protect something is a fine thing to do, boy. But it ain’t shameful
to run away from an enemy yeh know yeh can’t beat. If yeh die there, yeh can
never fight again, right? If yeh can’t win this time, just run away, get stronger,
then try again. Although there are some beasts in this world yeh’ll never reach
no matter how hard yeh try.”
A guide spends all his time in the harsh environment of the labyrinth.
And this man has continued carrying out his duties well into old age.

He must have had experiences that I can’t even begin to imagine.
“But what if you’re not allowed to run away?”

I asked cautiously.

The fight we’re heading for is one we can’t shirk.

The fate of humanity may even hang in the balance.

If we lose, Hugo will likely plunge the world even further into chaos.

So I can’t afford to lose or run away.

“Huh? Just ignore that and run anyway. What’s wrong with trying to survive?
If anyone has a problem with it, just tell ’em to take care of it themselves.”

Basgath’s answer wasn’t especially helpful.

“I told yeh, didn’t I? There are some things yeh just can’t do. Every person
alive has their limits, eh? Thinking yeh can do anything is nothing but arrogance.
Or pride, at best.”

Both Ms. Oka and I widen our eyes at Basgath’s bitter words.

“I’m not saying it’s good to duck yer responsibilities, o’course. As a labyrinth
guide, I’ll protect my clients even if it costs me own life. But everyone has a
certain amount they can handle. If the responsibilities forced on yeh are more
than yeh can handle, yeh ought to at least consider running. Sure yer not taking
on more responsibilities than yeh should, boy?”

I can’t seem to answer right away.

Responsibilities.

Because I’m the hero.

Because I’m a reincarnation like Hugo.

If I put it that way, it’s easy to convince myself.

But if I ask myself if all that responsibility should fall to me, I don’t know how
to answer.

“’Course, if it’s more than yeh can handle but yeh still wanna give it a shot, far
be it from me to try to talk yeh out of it. I’m just telling yeh what I believe. In
the end, what’s most important is what you yerself want to do.”

What do I want to do?

The answer is obvious.
I decided to follow in my brother Julius’s footsteps.
And Julius would never run away.
He was a hero among heroes, who truly desired world peace above all else.
“Thank you for your advice. But I still don’t think I can run away. I’m the hero,
after all.”
My voice is steady.
Sophia and Ronandt are powerful, but I can’t afford to hesitate now.
After we defeat Hugo, there’s still the battle with the demons to contend
with.
And with them, that “white” little girl who killed Julius.
A monster in the truest sense of the word, who was able to defeat my
powerful older brother with ease.
I’m going to have to fight her someday.
So I can’t stop until I’m strong enough to win that fight.
If anything, the idea of running is ridiculous.
“I truly appreciate your concern. But this really is what I want to do.”
“Is that right? Then I won’t say anything else. Do yer best, boy.”
I bow my head, and Basgath smacks my shoulder encouragingly.
Ouch.
“What I really want to do… Right. Of course. I mustn’t regret it.”
Distracted by Basgath’s merciless shoulder pounding, I didn’t quite hear Ms.
Oka murmuring to herself quietly.
It’s been five days since we entered the labyrinth.
We’re about halfway through.
Since we’re a small group and all of us have high stats, we’ve been able to
push forward along the shortest route at a fast pace.

There’s still the slight possibility of labyrinth sickness, but since Basgath is a
veteran guide, he’s been moderating our pace so that we can make progress
without pushing ourselves too hard.

I was worried that empire soldiers might ambush us along the way, but
according to Basgath, that would be impossible.

The empire tends to avoid the labyrinth in the first place, and attempting such
a thing would be much more dangerous than it would be effective.

With the many mazelike passages, anyone planning on laying a trap would
have no way of knowing which path we would take, meaning they wouldn’t
know where to wait.

Thus, our only enemies in the labyrinth are monsters.

And so far, they haven’t been much of a threat.

We have Hyrince as our tank, Ms. Oka bringing up the rear, and Katia, Fei, and
I serving as either vanguard or rear guard.

Since Mr. Basgath is our guide, he doesn’t generally participate in battle. On
the occasion that he does, though, he shows enough strength to hold his own
with our other members.

We might be a ragtag team, but I’d say we’ve come together pretty well.

Aside from one person.

“All right, stop. Time for a little break.”

Everyone halts at Basgath’s call.

He quickly confirms that the area is safe, then spreads out our baggage so
that we can rest.

As everyone else settles down to relax unconcernedly, one person alone all
but collapses, breathing heavily.

“I’m so terribly sorry,” she whispers to me.

I shake my head, patting Anna gently on the shoulder.

Anna is an excellent mage.

But among all the high-class warriors here, she can’t help but fall behind.

And since her stats are geared toward magic, her physical strength is low.

If we don’t take short breaks along the way, Anna won’t be able to keep up
with our movement speed.

Since Ms. Oka is a still-growing elf, her physical stats are low as well, but she
can use her excess of magical powers to enhance that.

Though she looks like a small child, she’s skilled in close combat, too.

Is this the difference between pure elves and half elves, or is Ms. Oka just
special?

It’s probably the latter, but the obvious gap is taking a physical and mental toll
on Anna.

Her mental state was already strained, but the pressure of not holding us
back on our quest is only making her burden heavier.

She’s beginning to show signs of labyrinth sickness.

At this rate, she might be in danger.

Basgath has noticed her condition and attempts to manage our pace
accordingly, but Anna is pushing herself to try to keep up with us.

Maybe it was a mistake to bring her along.

But if we had left her behind, I would’ve been worried about her, too.

I don’t think there was any right answer in this situation.

I agreed to let Anna come along, so I have to take responsibility by watching
over her.

It seems like everyone else understands that, too, since no one has said
anything.

Basgath might not know the details of the situation, but he’s a pro. He’ll guide
us no matter what.

He won’t complain about one of his clients being slow.

The only person who seems a little disgruntled is Katia.

Maybe I should try to talk to her about it in a more indirect way later.

“Now, we’ve made it about halfway through the labyrinth, so we need to
decide which route to take from here.”

Basgath is addressing me.

I’ll have to worry about Anna later.

“There are several routes ahead of us. There’s the shortest but most
dangerous route, the relatively safe roundabout route, and the sketchier route
that may or may not be dangerous. Which would yeh prefer?”

“Hmm. How dangerous is the shortest route?”

“Well, there are two kinds of passages in the Upper Stratum. There are the
normal passages, the narrow kind like the one we’re in now. Then there’s the
large passage.”

Pausing for a moment, he hands me a drink.

I accept it gratefully.

“The large passage, as the name implies, is much taller and wider than this
one. Think of it like a big hall that goes on for ages and ages. It also happens to
be the shortest route, but there are dangerous monsters there far beyond the
kind that lurk in the normal passages. C-class monsters aplenty. Occasionally
even A-class monsters, too. It’s a danger zone.”

A-class.

Monsters so strong it could take an army to deal with them.

It’s generally said that B-class monsters are the strongest that a small party
can handle on their own.

Monsters have better stats than humans.

In order to make up for it, we polish our skills, gather companions, and use all
of our combined wits to cooperate.

That’s how you win against an opponent with higher stats.

But that approach is only viable against monsters that are B-class and below.

A-class monsters are a different story entirely.
Aside from their naturally high stats, they have a superior range of skills.
Skills are human beings’ biggest advantage, and these monsters can use them
just as proficiently.
Some individuals even have skills specific to monsters, making them especially
troublesome to deal with.
A good example of an A-class monster? A high-level wyrm.
Like the one that was likely Fei’s parent, which attacked the academy.
Fei is technically classified as a high-level wyrm, too, but since being a
reincarnation seems to have given her an extra edge, she’s probably closer in
power to a dragon.
If we’d been on land, Fei might have even been able to beat the water dragon
that attacked us before.
“What’s the difference in time between the shortest route and the safer,
longer one?”
“Let’s see… At our current pace, I’d say about four days.”
That’s more than I expected.
It must be a pretty big detour.
“And what’s the last route you mentioned?”
“Right. About that…”
For some reason, Basgath hesitates.
As I wait expectantly, he scratches his head and looks uncomfortable.
“To be honest, I’d rather not go that way.”
“That’s certainly very honest. Is there a reason?”
“The Nightmare.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“That area used to be the Nightmare’s territory. Most guides don’t like to go

near the place. It’s bad luck. Especially since I’ve seen the thing with me own
eyes… I don’t like to be near there if I can help it.”

The Nightmare.
That’s the legendary-class monster he mentioned before, right?
But isn’t that thing supposed to be dead already?
“Incidentally, is that route fast, or…?”
“It’s only a little longer than the shortest route. Least, I think the shortest one
should be faster. Prolly only a difference of a day or so, if that.”
There’s the dangerous short route, the safe but lengthy roundabout route,
and the somewhat ambiguous route.
“But the Nightmare is gone already, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, the Nightmare itself is.”
“What do you mean?”
I tilt my head.
That makes it sound like there’s something else there.
“We call it a Nightmare’s Vestige.”
“A Nightmare’s Vestige?”
“Yeah. A monster that looks a lot like the Nightmare. It’s been seen all over
the Upper Stratum but most often in the route I mentioned before.”
“Is it a particularly strong monster?”
“Oh, it’s strong. And troublesome, too.”
If Basgath says so, it must be pretty serious.
I’d definitely prefer not to run into anything like that.
“However, it has the same strange quirks as the Nightmare. If yeh don’t attack
it, it won’t do yeh any harm. If yeh do encounter a Nightmare’s Vestige, it’s best
to do nothing and just wait for it to pass.”
“What in the world…?”

I can’t hide my amazement.

Can you really call it a monster if it has such unusual habits?

If you ask me, a monster is supposed to be something that blindly attacks
whatever it sees.

“There’s one more thing. It strings up invisible thread all over the place. If yeh
cut it or whatnot, it’ll attack yeh.”

“Thread?”

“Yup. I guess I didn’t mention that, huh? The Nightmare is a spider monster.
Same for the Nightmare’s Vestiges.”

Spiders, huh…?

“The thread is almost impossible to see, not to mention sticky and tough,
which makes it hard to get free if yer caught in it. On top of that, the monster
itself is too strong by half. In the old days, when yeh saw a spiderweb, yeh just
burned it. But since this Nightmare’s Vestige appeared, if yeh see a spiderweb,
yeh just run away. It’s the worst monster in the whole Upper Stratum.”

What a dangerous monster.

It’s that strong and uses such nasty thread, too?

It almost sounds like a monster with the cleverness of a human.

“We’d better not go that route, I’d say.”

Hyrince, who’d been listening to our exchange in silence, speaks up now.

“I went with Julius and the rest of the party to take down a Nightmare’s
Vestige once. We managed to scrape out a victory somehow, but it was pretty
damn close. Better to avoid it if we can.”

Even Julius and his party had a hard time with this thing?

Yeah, I guess I’d rather not encounter that.

That eliminates that route, then.

Now it’s down to the shortest route and the roundabout route.

“All right, everyone. We have to choose between a fast but dangerous route

or a safe but lengthy route. Can I get your opinions?”
I address the other members of the party as they rest up.

My heart wants to choose the shortest route.
Even if we do have a little time to spare, the sooner we get to the elf village,
the better.
But it would be even tougher on Anna, who’s already having a hard time,
making it difficult for me to decide.
“I think we should pick the shortest route.”

Ms. Oka speaks first.
I’ve already seen how powerful our teacher is.
To be honest, I never expected her to be able to knock Hugo out completely
like that.
In terms of magic ability alone, she’s probably even stronger than I am.

Katia seems like she wants to agree.
“Won’t it be dangerous, though? If more than one A-class monster shows up
at once, even we might have trouble dealing with them.”
“Ah, I wouldn’t worry about that,” Basgath informs her. “A-class monsters
almost never run with others. If we do happen to encounter one, it’ll be alone.”
“Well then, I’m sure we can handle it.”

Katia nods confidently.
Since we grew up together, I understand Katia very well.
I know she has the ability to back up those words.
“Hmm. I guess I vote for the shortest route, too. Monsters are no big deal for
us.”

Fei votes for the shortest route, too.
She seems almost too optimistic, but I guess she can get away with it, given
how powerful she is.

Fei is the strongest of our group, after all.
“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s wise to take unnecessary risks.”
Hyrince votes for the safer route.
He probably values our safety even more than the continued existence of the
elf village.
Now it’s three to one.
Since Basgath is remaining neutral, that leaves Anna and me.
Half the group is already pushing for the shortest route, but I want to hear
Anna’s opinion, too.
“What do you think we should do, Anna?”
“Please, there’s no need to concern yourself with my opinion.”
“No, I want to. You’re a member of the group, too. Go on—tell us what you
think.”
I press her a little insistently.
Anna hesitates at first, thinks for a moment, then appears to reach some kind
of conclusion.
“Let us take the shortest route, then.”
“Are you sure?”
What I actually mean is Will you be all right? Will you be able to keep up?
“Absolutely.”
Her response is firm.
Then there’s nothing else I need to say.
“The short route it is, then.”
Knowing the danger, we’ve decided to push forward nonetheless.

A BRUSH WITH DEATH

I thought I’d teleported to safety, only to find an ambush waiting for me.
This must be Mother’s work.
An army of spiders just coincidentally hanging around in the exact place
where my home used to be is about as likely as a meteor hitting me square in
the face.
It can’t be a chance happening, right?
What’s really scary is that considering how bad my luck has been so far, it
wouldn’t surprise me that much if it were.
Still, I think it’s much more likely that Mother predicted I would teleport here
and sent her forces to wait for me in advance.
I guess I might’ve underestimated her a little.
In terms of brains, not brawn.
With Mother’s huge body, there’s no way she could have chased me down
while I was running around in the narrow passages of the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
All she had to do was wait for me to come out.
She must have predicted everything I was going to do.
Otherwise, she could never have arranged things to such perfection.
When I left the labyrinth, she came out to chase me down personally.
If she’d finished me off there, that would have been that.
Her sheer speed is higher than mine, meaning the only way I can outrun her is
with Long-Distance Teleport.

And where else would I go but back to the Great Elroe Labyrinth?

Specifically, the most likely place I’d flee to first is the spot where my home
used to be.

Sending an army there would be an easy way to catch me defenseless as soon
as I arrived.

In short, that’s the current situation.

I went from using Teleport to kill those arch taratects to having it used against
me.

I’m screwed.

I can’t even react in time to dodge the arch taratect fangs flying at my face.

Here are the facts: I let my guard down as soon as Teleport activated, then I
totally froze up for a second the instant I realized that I was surrounded by a
spider army, and the wounds Mother inflicted on me delayed my reaction
speed.

All those factors combined prevent me from dodging.

The arch’s huge fangs bite into my tiny body.

They don’t break through.

I might not look it, but my defense stat is over 2,000.

I haven’t Appraised the arch taratect that’s chomping on me, which means I
don’t know for sure, but if it’s similar to the ones I fought before, its attack is
probably over 4,000.

It’s probably using Mental Warfare and Magic Warfare to buff that, too, but
its skill levels probably aren’t as high as mine.

Even if it does break through my body and bite off a chunk, it won’t be the
end of the world.

Still, the damage would be huge.

And that’s in addition to the severe damage Mother’s already inflicted on me.

My injuries are so bad that without Pain Super-Mitigation, I probably

would’ve passed out by now.

On top of all that, I can feel something seeping into my body from those
fangs.

I know exactly what it is, since I have the same move.

Poison Attack. Deadly Poison, to be precise.

Even with my high resistance, I can’t nullify it completely.

I have to get away from these fangs soon, or I’ll succumb to the poison
seeping into my body and die.

That is, if the raw damage doesn’t kill me first.

In the midst of the biggest pinch of my life, I become strangely calm and
quickly start activating some magic.

Specifically, Earth Magic.

An earthen spear bursts out of the ground and smashes into the arch’s head.

I’m not expecting it to do much damage.

All I want is for the impact to loosen the jaws clamped down on my body.

Just as I hoped, the attack makes the arch taratect stumble, loosening its grip
for just a moment.

I seize the chance to hit the arch in the face with more magic and escape from
its claws.

To my surprise, the attack seems to have weakened the arch more than I
thought.

I guess it doesn’t have Dragon Scales or anything like that to ward off magic.

That skill is what’s prevented me from doing major damage to a dragon with a
single attack in the past, but I guess without it, even stats equal to a dragon’s
won’t protect an arch taratect from a big hit.

That’s only the defense side of things, though.

As far as attacking goes, the arch has stats and skills that are easily on par
with the powerful Araba’s.

It might not have the power to cause a huge catastrophe like Mother does,
but it’s still enough to do some serious damage to a corner of the labyrinth like
Araba did.

And there are five of those powerful creatures here.

Isn’t that a bit of overkill?
I guess that just shows how seriously Mother is trying to kill me.
And I have to say, that plan seems to be going pretty well for her right now.
Mother’s breath attack decimated part of my body, the arch’s fangs put holes
in the rest of it, and now poison is eating away at me, too.

It’s enough to make you wonder how I’m even still alive at this point,
honestly.

Well, I know why. It’s thanks to Perseverance.
My HP already hit 0 a long time ago.
However, the Perseverance skill can substitute MP for HP.

As soon as my MP runs out, I’m dead.
Thanks to Height of Occultism, my MP regenerates faster than it can go down,
so I’m not going to die that easily.
However, that doesn’t mean my wounds are going to heal anytime soon.
Perseverance really just passes off my MP as HP to delay the inevitable.

If I take enough damage that I can’t move anymore, I’m sure the archs will
damage me faster than my MP can recover.

I’ll be beaten to a pulp.
Or maybe just devoured.
Even Perseverance can’t do much if my body itself is gone.

I’m already just a step away from that line.
And I have no time to think about recovery, because all five archs are coming
to attack me.

I definitely can’t worry about appearances now.

I dodge the oncoming archs and run for my life.

Instead of going down to the ground crawling with countless spiders, I use
Dimensional Maneuvering to flee through the air.

Without all my legs, I can’t reach my usual speed.

Filled with fear and frustration, I intercept the huge amount of thread coming
up at me with thread of my own.

My destination is the Middle Stratum.

I might not be overly fond of the place, but the spider army is even weaker to
the heat there than I am.

The fiery environment of the Middle Stratum is terrible for spiders without
resistance.

An arch or greater taratect can probably endure it, but anything weaker than
that would probably die from simply being there.

But they’re still one step ahead of me. As I race toward the entrance to the
Middle Stratum, something stands in my way.

It looks almost like a doll.

No, I think it actually is a doll.

It has a smooth, faceless head.

An inorganic body with spherical joints.

The obstacle resembles a mannequin that could be found at any department
store.

Here in the labyrinth, something so obviously artificial seems strangely out of
place.

But it makes sense once you know what’s inside.

Appraisal reveals to me that the doll is full of thread, with a tiny spider at the
center.

And this spider is a horrifying monster whose stats all exceed 10,000.

According to Appraisal, this is a puppet taratect.

But I’ve never heard of such a creature.

Even the evolution tree that Wisdom showed me didn’t contain any monster
by that name.

But my instincts tell me that this mysterious monster must be one of
Mother’s trump cards.

The humanoid doll readies the swords in its hands.

All six of them.

Though the doll looks like a human being, it has six arms.

If you include the legs, that makes eight limbs: just like a spider.

While I’m being distracted by such a stupid observation, the six swords come
at me.

Unable to dodge, I feel it summarily cut off my two front legs.

Monsters shouldn’t use weapons, dammit! I want to shout.

I don’t know if you stole them from humans or made them yourself, but that’s
just not fair!

One would be all right, but six swords at once? How am I supposed to avoid
that?

I’ve almost never lost to anyone in terms of speed.

The only exceptions would be Mother; the earth dragon Araba, which I
encountered early on; and the fire dragon Rend.

With my amazing speed, Thought Super-Acceleration, and Future Sight, I’ve
always been proud of my evasion abilities.

But now I’ve been outdone at the one thing I do best.

Thought Super-Acceleration and Future Sight can theoretically figure out how
best to dodge something instantly, but that works only if I can get my body to
do it in practice.

If the attack moves faster than my body can react, of course there’s no way I

can dodge it.

I promptly use magic to knock back the doll, but the situation is only
worsening.

The puppet spider in front of me, five archs behind me.

On top of that, I’ve lost half my legs, leaving my body in tatters and my
mobility drastically low.

I can feel death closing in on me, even more keenly than the time I faced
Araba.

I don’t want to die.



I don’t want to die.
I don’t want to die!
I can’t just give up!
I’ll claw my way toward survival for all I’m worth, until my very last moment!
If I am gonna die here, I’m taking as many of them down with me as I can!
Half-crazed with desperation, I still try to check myself as I fire off a barrage of
magic.
My main goal is quantity over quality, so the spells aren’t very powerful.
But since these spiders don’t have the skill Dragon Scales, it should still do
decent damage.
Even if it’s not much, I doubt they’ll want to charge right into the line of fire.
Sure enough, the puppet spider and the archs all pause to defend themselves.
They use magic, swords, or whatever else to fend off my attacks.
But the other spiders, who can’t even counterattack my lowest-level magic,
start going down from the direct hits.
Oh?
Maybe this desperate strategy could actually work?
While keeping the puppet spider and the archs at bay remains my top priority,
I start aiming for the other spiders, too.
Especially the bigger ones that look like they’d be worth more EXP.
The little critters are dying from the aftershocks alone, anyway.
While I’m at it, I switch from Inert Evil Eye, which probably won’t work that
well, to Jinx Evil Eye.
Leaving only one eye for Future Sight, I apply Jinx Evil Eye to all the others,
stealing MP and such from my enemies.
Then I use that newly restored MP on another barrage of magic.
One of the archs gets fed up and tries to push through the barrage despite the

damage, but instead of trying to counterattack, I only move away.

I definitely can’t risk trying to prepare other spells while producing all this
magic by myself.

I might be able to ward them off, but I can’t completely stop the archs from
moving.

Noticing this, the other archs start to charge, too, even if they take damage in
the process.

I didn’t buy as much time as I had hoped.

If I had even one Parallel Mind available, things would probably be different,
but there’s no point in thinking about that now.

I’m on my own.

I’m going to have to manage this myself.

I give up on the magic barrage and switch to higher-powered magic, aiming it
toward the archs as they charge toward me.

Realizing that this will cause more damage than they’re willing to sustain, the
archs stop to defend themselves again.

I use that chance to put some distance between us, using slightly weaker
magic to fend off the other spiders while I’m at it.

The puppet spider alone moves to the entrance of the Middle Stratum, simply
standing there to prevent me from fleeing.

I can’t say that’s particularly good or bad.

Impatiently, I check my status.

I’m fending off the archs’ attacks with magic and thread for now, but I know
all too well that I can’t keep that up for long.

Given the archs’ stats, it’s only a matter of time before they push through my
pathetic attempts.

Especially since there’s five of them.

And that moment comes all too quickly.

One of the archs’ sharp claws catches my torso.
As soon as I hit the ground, it pins me down.
Unable to move, I see the other archs closing in.
This is a serious crisis.
But I still have a final ray of hope.
Checking on my tattered body, I look at one of my status items again.
Experience points.
I check the amount I gained from shooting down other spiders while I fended
off the archs, then the amount I need to level up.
It’s close.
I’m insanely close to the number of points I need, and I’m terrifyingly close to
death, too.
It’s a gamble, but the only other option is certain death.
I have to try, no matter how terrible the odds.
I quickly Appraise the archs and lock onto the one with the lowest HP.
Annihilating Evil Eye, activate!
This is a skill I gained when I evolved into my current race, Ede Saine.
An insta-kill attack that uses Rot, the attribute associated with death.
Of all my skills, it’s currently second only to Abyss Magic in terms of killing
power.
However, it comes at a high price: I take a huge amount of recoil damage
when I use it.
That amount will be especially severe for my currently beaten-up body.
I’d say the odds of me surviving are about fifty-fifty.
Even if I do live through the self-inflicted damage, there’s a follow-up fifty-
fifty bet as to whether it’ll kill the arch.
And after that, the gamble of whether it’ll be enough EXP for me to level up.

My odds of winning all these bets are one in eight at best.
<Experience has reached the required level. Individual Ede Saine has
increased from LV 29 to LV 30.>

Looks like I won.
My attack killed the arch, and the resulting EXP raised my level.
I undergo molting, which fully heals my wounds.
The missing part of my torso is restored, and my lost limbs grow back.

However, my HP doesn’t recover completely.
Turns out there’s a limit on how much I can heal by leveling up.
Still, this is a turn for the better. I can even see a chance of pulling through
this.
It’s a small one, but it’s there.

The arch that I hit with my Annihilating Evil Eye disintegrates into dust.
This development seems to surprise the one pinning me to the ground,
enough that its leg slackens a little.
I use Cutting Thread to slash at my captor’s leg and slip from its hold.
At the same time, I clamber up that leg and latch onto the arch’s torso.

The arch tries to shake me off, but I dig in firmly with my sharp claws and sink
my fangs into it.

Moments later, it’s writhing around in agony.
The arch slams its body against the ground, trying to knock me off, but I hang
on through sheer determination, continuing to inject it with poison.
The other archs are powerless to intervene, since they can’t attack me
without attacking the one I’m stuck to as well.

The arch thrashes around, I hang on, and the other spiders watch, unable to
do anything.

The only one to get a clue is the puppet spider, which I probably should’ve
expected.

It charges forward, fully prepared to slice me in half even if it means killing
the arch, too.

But it’s too late.
Time is up.
Long-Distance Teleport, activate.
The puppet’s blade swings toward me, but my body disappears just before it
reaches me.
My spell moves me into the Middle Stratum with the unlucky arch in tow.
Really, with the arch’s obscenely high Status Condition Resistance, my poison
would never be enough to kill it.
Biting into it with a Poison Attack was just a way to stall for time.
In those stolen moments, I started preparing the Teleport spell.
My goal in that situation wasn’t to wipe out the spider army.
It was ultimately nothing more than survival.
My odds of surviving by fighting to the bitter end were next to nothing.
The four remaining archs would’ve been enough of a challenge, never mind
the puppet spider, which was leagues above all of them.
To be honest, I couldn’t have beaten that thing even in a one-on-one
situation.
I’ve got no desire to participate in a battle I can’t win.
That’s why I focused all my efforts on getting away.
Though I guess I also got this arch as a souvenir.
I release my fangs and grapple with the arch above the magma.
Now the tables have turned.
I have a certain degree of heat resistance, but the arch has none.
Instead, it gets to take the brunt of my anger for putting me in such a deadly
position.

A few minutes later, the charred body of the arch drops into the magma,
defeated by the Upper Stratum.

THE TERROR OF THE GREAT ELROE LABYRINTH

A vaguely unreal scene unfolds in my unfocused vision.
It’s as if I’m looking in from the other side of a thin film, like watching an old
movie.
The faint light of a torch illuminates the people around me.
Several of them are familiar faces.
I can see Mr. Hyrince and the saint, Yaana.
Two of the other men don’t look familiar, but the third one… Isn’t that
Basgath’s son, Goyef?
They keep walking somewhere, until they cross paths with something.
A spider monster: a Nightmare’s Vestige.
After a hard fight, the group defeats it. In that moment, I have a strange vision
of a girl.
A girl whose features I can’t see, who can only be described as white.
I jump to my feet.
Was that a dream?
About when Julius defeated a Nightmare’s Vestige in the past?
Did I dream about it because of that conversation with Basgath?
Or was Julius trying to tell me something?
That last idea is probably just wishful thinking on my part.
Absently, I touch the white scarf wrapped around my neck, a memento of my
brother.

“We’re about to enter the large passage. Keep yer wits about yeh.”
With that, Mr. Basgath leads us forward.
Once I cross the threshold, I stare around me in surprise.
It’s huge.
Sure, I was briefed on this already, but it’s totally different from the cramped
passages we’ve been traveling in all this time.
It could easily be three hundred feet wide.
The ceiling looks equally high.
Just like Basgath said, it’s more like a vast hall than a passage.
But my shock lasts only for a moment.
I quickly return to my senses, looking around carefully.
No signs of any monsters nearby.
Relieved, I still keep my guard up as we move forward.
The passage is enormous.
But there are large boulders and such scattered about, impeding our vision.
Something could be lurking in the shadows of the rocks.
I keep an eye out for any signs as we steadily progress.
After a while, Basgath pauses.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s strange. I haven’t seen any monsters.”
Basgath’s voice and expression can’t quite hide his consternation.
Is that really such a bad thing?
“Are there usually more around here?”
“Aye. It’s strange that we’ve not seen any after coming this far.”
Under his breath, he adds, “It’s like when we saw the Nightmare.”
Now that makes me nervous.

“Is there any way to reach a different route?”
It’s probably best to assume that something strange is going on.
In which case, we should take precautions.
“There’s a side path a short distance ahead. We’ll switch to another route
there.”
Basgath seems to agree, as he doesn’t hesitate to craft an alternate plan.
We all catch on to Basgath’s agitated state, and no one objects to this.
But we made our decision a little too late.
Something is already coming this way.
A dragon.
First, we see a silhouette that resembles a slimmed-down tyrannosaurus.
However, its hands are strangely large, and each of its claws glitters like a
flawlessly crafted sword.
“An earth dragon. Damn! And in the Upper Stratum—does that mean it
evolved?!”
Basgath clicks his tongue.
All of us get ready for battle.
Steeling myself, I Appraise our opponent.

<Earth dragon Ekisa LV 2

Status: HP: 2,808/2,808 (green) MP: 1,312/1,312 (blue)

SP: 3,655/3,655 (yellow) : 2,032/3,645 (red)

Average Offensive Ability: Average Defensive Ability:

2,498 (details) 2,455 (details)

Average Magical Ability: Average Resistance Ability:

1,298 (details) 2,452 (details)

Average Speed Ability:
3,600 (details)